Fire & Rescue

The Department

The Granite Shoals Fire Department is a combination volunteer / paid department that provides Fire and EMS services to the City of Granite Shoals. The Granite Shoals Fire Department also provides Fire and EMS services to the City of Highland Haven and the Burnet County Emergency Service District Number 3 under a Contractual agreement. The Current Fire District is 38 Square miles. The Granite Shoals Fire Department also responds and receives mutual aid calls under the Texas Mutual Aid Agreement from the City of Marble Falls, the Marble Falls Volunteer Fire Department, the Hoover Valley Volunteer Fire Department, and other Local Fire Departments. We also serve as medical first responders to assist Marble Falls Area EMS. The Fire Department responds to Structural, Vehicle, and Wildland Fires. Vehicle collisions, Emergency Medical Calls, Hazardous Materials response, Public Education and Service Calls, and Rope, Cave, and Water Rescues.

Insurance Services Office (ISO) Rating / Response Time

The Granite Shoals Fire Department's current ISO rating is a 3 in the cities of Granite Shoals and Highland Haven, and a 3Y in the unincorporated county areas that are further than 1000 Feet from a fire hydrant and/or 5 Miles from the Fire Station. Our average response time is around five minutes, with an average of four responders per call.

An ISO fire insurance rating, also referred to as a fire score or Public Protection Classification (PPC), is a score from 1 to 10 that indicates how well-protected your community is by the fire department. In the ISO rating scale, a lower number is better: 1 is the best possible rating, while a 10 means the fire department did not meet the ISO's minimum requirements. This rating is used by many Homeowners insurance companies to determine policy rates and fees.

According to the ISO's Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS), there are four main criteria for a fire rating score:

  • 50% comes from the quality of your local fire department, including staffing levels, training, and proximity of the firehouse.
  • 40% comes fromthe  availability of water supply, including the prevalence of fire hydrants and how much water is available for putting out fires.
  • 10% comes from the quality of the area's emergency communications systems (911).
  • An extra 5.5% comes from community outreach, including fire prevention and safety courses.

Staff

The Granite Shoals Fire Department is staffed by 14 Full-time and numerous part-time paid Firefighters/ Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and 5 Volunteer Firefighters who staff one Fire station with several different Fire Apparatus. The paid firefighters are Texas Commission on Fire Protection Certified and hold a minimum of an Emergency Medical Tech certification. There are 4 firefighters on duty around the clock, 24/7. The Fire Chief Works Monday through Friday but is on call for major incidents.

Funding

The department receives an operating budget from the City of Granite Shoals, and also contract fees to cover the City Highland Haven, and Burnet County Emergency Service District Number 3. The Granite Shoals Fire Department also has an active Fire auxiliary that raises funds to supplement the current budget.